The Senate elections witnessed a dominant performance by candidates from the ruling coalition, with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leading the charge with 11 seats, followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with six seats. Additionally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) and an independent candidate, Faisal Vawda, each secured one seat.
The voting for the 19 vacant seats took place across the National, Punjab, and Sindh assemblies. However, the Election Commission postponed elections for 11 seats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to issues surrounding the oath-taking process for lawmakers elected on reserved seats. A total of 356 lawmakers participated in the upper house of parliament’s elections, while the votes of five National Assembly lawmakers were rejected.
In Sindh, the ruling party PPP claimed 10 Senate seats, with one seat each going to MQM-P and an independent candidate. Notable winners from Sindh include Ashraf Ali Jatoi, Dost Ali Jessar, Kazim Ali Shah, Masroor Ahsan, and Nadeem Bhutto on general seats. MQM-P’s Amir Chishti and independent candidate Faisal Vawda also secured victories on general seats. PPP’s Rubina Saadat Qaimkhani and Quratulain Marri won on women’s seats, with Punjho Mil Bhail securing a reserved seat for minorities. PPP’s Sarmad Ali and Zamir Ghumro clinched technocrat seats.
Finance and Foreign ministers emerged victorious
Moving to Punjab, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb triumphed on technocrat seats with 128 votes, followed by PML-N’s Musadik Malik with 121 votes. PML-N’s Anusha Rahman and Bushra Anjum Butt emerged victorious on women’s seats, Sanam Javaid Khan of the SIC garnered 102 votes.While Tahir Khalil Sindhu secured a minority seat.
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In Islamabad, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar secured a significant victory on the technocrat seat with 222 votes, while Rana Mahmoodul Hassan of PPP emerged victorious on the general seat with 224 votes. These results reflect a substantial win for the ruling coalition across various provinces and categories in the Senate elections.